Specific Migration of Antioxidant from Plastic Packages for Food

The use of additives in plastics is essential for the processing and performance of plastic products since the additives enhance the desired characteristics of the polymers. Nevertheless, there are restrictions established by the Brazilian Agency of Sanitary Surveillance (AN VISA) for plastic packages intended to be in contact with foodstuffs which must be submitted to analyses at a proper laboratory in order to check the compliance with the requirements established. Therefore, the objective of this study was to develop a method for determining the migration of n-octadecyl 3-(3,5-ditert-butyl-4-hydroxyphenyl) propionate, antioxidant known commercially as irganox 1076. CAS 2082-79-3, from plastic packages intended to be in contact with foodstuffs employing high performance liquid chromatography. This study also aims to ensure that commercial plastic package samples are in agreement with the requirement established by ANVISA relative to the specific migration limit for this additive. The results have shown that the methodology used for aqueous, acid and fatty simulants is satisfactory for determining the migration of Irganox 1076 since all parameters needed for the validation of the method were achieved. The LOPE and EVA film samples analyzed are in agreement with the specific migration limit of Irganox 1076 for all simulants evaluated.